What Is Going On Here?
Every few days or weeks, I pick a music artist or band, compile a chronological playlist of all of their singles (based on Wikipedia, Discogs.com and a few other sources as appopriate) and then try to arrange that playlist in such a way that I like each song more than the previous song. Rearranging the songs is a never ending process so once I’m at a point where I think I’m pretty close to how I feel, I share the results with you 10 or so songs at a time. I’ve come to define “singles” in a pretty broad way so that it includes any song that was used to promote an album (via video or single) or any song that charted in a significant way. Generally speaking, I don’t include remixes or live versions of songs that were previously released as singles.
Sometimes, I rank other things, too.
“According to Doyle?” Whoa, Full of Yourself Much?
My friend Mookie suggested the title as a play on “According to Hoyle.”
What’s Up With The Appalling MS Paint Images?
I like having images with the articles but wanted them to be free and wanted them to be easy to make, so I make them in MS Paint. But they take me forever because I’m a terrible artist. Also, because I’m using MS Paint with a mouse. But mostly because I’m a terrible artist.
What Makes You So Special That You Think You Can Rank Stuff?
Hmmm. Nothing, really. You can do it too! Its easy! I don’t think my opinions are any more right or wrong. The whole idea of ranking things is subjective. In fact, as I’ve been loading up some of my lists from March and April of 2017, I’m already wondering what I was thinking. Maybe I’ll revisit them later.
What Bands Have Suffered Your Opinions So Far?
I’m glad you asked! In chronological order, U2, The Cure, Kate Bush, New Order and Joy Division, The B-52’s, The Police, R.E.M., The Replacements, The Cars, Madonna, Talking Heads and The Tom Tom Club, Thomas Dolby, Duran Duran, The Smiths, Fiona Apple, The Hives, Radiohead, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Throwing Muses, David Bowie, Scissors Sisters, Pavement, The Pogues, ABC, The Pet Shop Boys, Nirvana, Björk, A Flock of Seagulls, Thompson Twins, Dire Straits, Green Day, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Elvis Costello.
What Other Bands’ Singles Will Fall Victim to This Fel Project?
I am prepared to continue working on singles by INXS, The Clash and The Pretenders and eventually start ranking singles by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Pearl Jam, Sparks and Big Audio Dynamite in the near future. I currently have playlists on my iPod of all of the singles by Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Beck, Belle and Sebastian, Billy Idol, Blur, The Decemberists, Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Garbage, Heaven 17, Housemartins, LCD Soundsystem, Matthew Sweet, Nine Inch Nails, Pop Will Eat Itself, Ramones, Roxy Music, The Smithereens, Talk Talk, The Jam, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The White Stripes, Wilco and X. There’s a ton of others (Prince, Tom Petty, Beyonce, Grace Jones, etc) who I’ll get to eventually as I complete my singles collection of their work.
Do you rank anything besides singles?
Absolutely. I’ve ranked Shakespeare plays, Baseball Hat Logos and Breakfast Cereal Mascots. I have a whole list of stuff that I’ll be ranking by request for my readers. They typically request stuff on Facebook or via the form below.
Dude, your spelling and grammar…
I know, I know. I’m lazy and genuinely dyslexic and sometimes favor speed to accuracy. I do want the spelling and grammar to be accurate so please feel free to correct me whenever you’d like and I’ll try to fix it. I don’t take it personally in the least. I really should be working with an editor.
Wait, Season 3?
Season 1 includes all of the lists I created first on Facebook (roughly U2 through Madonna).
Season 2 includes all the lists I created from opening the site through my 2019 hiatus (Talking Heads through Breakfast Cereal Mascots)
Season 3 started in January 2020 with The Clash.
Why can’t I Leave Comments on Some of the Entries?
I originally wrote about all of the artists up through Madonna on my Facebook page using Facebook notes. You’re welcome to leave a comment on the original Facebook note. I’ve linked them from those entries and they’re open to the public. My friends tend to prefer to comment on Facebook to this day.
Can I Pet Your Cat?
She will bite you. I’m not kidding.
What If I Want To Suggest You Rank Something?
[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” /][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” /][/contact-form]